Nothing But Smoke
by klainchel95
Summary: Blaine and Rachel both work in the Twin Towers, when disaster strikes, and they are torn apart. xposted


Rachel Berry set aside her coffee away from her computer on her desk and picked up the phone. She dialed a number really quick, looking around to make sure no one would be listening. The phone on the other end rang three times before a smooth voice answered.

"Hey you," She said, smiling. "My break is in a few minutes, want to meet up and go down the street for some breakfast?"

"Sure," Blaine Anderson said, and she could hear him waving off people who were talking to him in his own office.

"Are you busy?" Rachel frowned; saddened at the fact she might not be able to spend some time with her fiancé. They worked in the same building but different apartments and a few floors apart so they weren't supposed to date even though they did and were now engaged to be married. Nothing could really keep the two of them apart.

"No it's fine," He assured her. "I can get away. Meet me in staircase B, I'll be waiting for you there. I love you."

"I love you too," Rachel rested the phone its cradle and grabbed her jacket. It was a nice day in New York for the first month after summer. She told Jim, the worked in the cubicle next to her, that she would be taking her break and be back in an hour.

Rachel pulled her sweater around her as she descended the stairs. She glanced at the watch on her wrist and calculated she if she was gone for an hour like she'd said, she's be back for her meeting at 9:45

She smiled when she saw Blaine waiting for her, all dressed up and fancy for a regular day at work. Rachel was about to climb down the last few steps to greet him when she felt a sudden force shake her entire surroundings, the steps and walls vibrating around her as a noise, as if a bomb went off, sounded off. Rachel shrieked as she was knocked off her feet, falling down the staircase and into Blaine, both of them crashing to the ground.

"Are you okay!" Blaine yelled frantically, pulling them to their feet.

"WHAT WAS THAT!" Rachel asked panicked, looking up as if she would see something. Instead a faint smell of smoke was appearing and the lights in the building began to flicker. "Blaine?"

"I don't know Rachel," Blaine choked, feeling the smoke to, it becoming evident in the air now. "It must have been a fire, come on, we've got to get out of here."

Rachel grabbed Blaine's hand and followed him down a few flights of stairs, the ground seemingly farther and farther away. They were in a tall building and about 50 floors away from the bottom. "That sounded like a bomb!" She cried, trying not to panic though the emotion was quickly taking over her.

"Whatever it was, we've got to get out of here," Blaine explained in a strangely calm voice. "Come on, we have to hurry!" He pushed Rachel in front of him, never letting her out of his sight. Another rumble shook the building and debris began to fall around them.

Rachel couldn't contain the scream that escaped her. It was amazing how she was able to manage with the sudden smoke and dust clouding the air. "It's okay," She heard Blaine shout over the noise. It was almost impossible to hear him when the sounds of other screams and cries with filling the air, mixing with the dust.

Rachel's fingers grasped tightly around his own, pulling him closer to her as the cleared five more floors. 45. They weren't close enough. Rachel couldn't help but think whatever was going wasn't going to let them out alive. Her thoughts were proven when a harder shake erupted and she could hear the ceiling cracking. Instinctively she released her hold on Blaine to cover her head. Ceiling tile and rubble fell and knocked her down. It lasted for what seemed like forever before she could clear her head and open her eyes. The air cleared for a moment when she looked up and didn't see Blaine. At least not all of him. A ceiling pipe had fallen and had him pinned, the rest of him covered in dust and paper.

"BLAINE!" She cried, running over. He was knocked out and she couldn't tell if he was breathing. There was no way she could get to him. "No! Blaine? Blaine!" Rachel leapt for the pipe using all her strength to try and move it but it wouldn't budge. She didn't stop trying not even when someone had come up behind her.

"Miss?" Someone asked, but she didn't hear anything. She heard nothing but the sounds of her own heart beating in her chest, felt nothing but the raw burning from clawing at the pipe, and saw nothing but the unmoving form of the one person who meant everything to her. "Miss! We need to get you out of here!"

Hands circled her waist but she pushed at them, shrieking, "NO!"

"Miss! There's been a terrorist attack we need to evacuate."

"No! Blaine! He's stuck, he-he's not moving! I'm not leaving him," Rachel shoved the man aside but he held onto her stubbornly.

"I'll come back for him, someone will come back for him,"

"No," Rachel shook her head. It was a lie. No one would be coming back for him. He was still breathing, she could see his strong chest moving up and down, but the man was already dragging her down the stairs. "Blaine? BLAINE! NO STOP IT! BLAINE!" Rachel cried out desperately, to wake him up, to show the man he wasn't a hopeless case. She did everything she could to free herself, scratching at the mans face, his arms and everything, never giving up her fight, yet she kept losing with every step they took, every staircase they cleared and every story they left behind.

"She's hysterical, get her out of here!" She heard whoever was holding her say. A fire-fighter than grabbed a hold of her and Rachel knew there was no way she could get back. The man carried her down the rest of the floors, descending them with seemingly fast space, flowing in the current of workers making their way out of the building. She pounded on his chest and flailed trying to fall from his grip, but nothing worked. Rachel sobbed and didn't stop fighting until she found herself out in the open air.

She choked, gasping the some-what fresh atmosphere. The air around her was still dusty and lots of loud noises were taking over her brain. She was placed down at what the fire-fighter must've thought was a safe distance but all the energy had left her, and she lied on her back staring at the sky. What she saw made her body tense in horror. The top of the building she had just been in was on fire, flaming around 15 floors and billowing smoke in the air that seemed to rise and rise with no end. Papers littered the ground around her and more were floating down. She was paralyzed by fear until she saw something else falling through the sky.

It was only moments before they hit the ground that Rachel recognized that the object was a person. The impact was far away but Rachel could've sworn she heard the crunch of the skull, the breaking of the bones and the deterioration of the skin. "Oh god no," She sobbed, turning her head away.

Her eyes found sight on the exit she must've been carried out of and a new horror replaced the one of the human that was flattened on the very ground she lay on. "Blaine," She said softly, almost inaudibly with the fire in her own throat. Rachel stood and ran for the doors before someone held her back. "GODDAMN IT LET ME THROUGH!" She screamed hoarsely.

"MAME!" The man yelled back at her. "YOU CAN'T GO BACK IN THERE. I NEED YOU TO GO AND REMAIN BEHIND THE TAPE! IT'S NOT SAFE HERE!"

"IT'S NOT SAFE IN THERE!" Tears stung her eyes as she struggled to keep them open and on the exit, hoping that Blaine would magically appear out of the dust. "MY FIANCE IS IN THERE! HELP HIM! PLEASE GO HELP HIM!"

"MAME GET BACK!" She was shoved backwards and pushed again and again by men who wanted to get her out of the way, to safety. But she wasn't safe. None of them were. Rachel was about to try again when a sickeningly tremor once again shook her world. She looked up at the building and saw that it was moving. Down and down, each floor crashing from the weight of travesty that was heavy at the top of the building.

People began to run then and so did Rachel but in the opposite direction. She searched she crowd hopelessly for any sign of the curly-haired man but there was none. He was still trapped, pinned on the 45th floor and helpless. "NO-O-O-O!" The scream ripped through her throat destroying everything in her as she watched the building collapse on itself. The smoke cloud that was forming loomed dangerous over her as it grew bigger with each story it took out.

Rachel didn't bother to run. To try and escape with the rest of the people of New York City. She had no one to run to, no one in the world anymore. The only person, who mattered to her, was dead, buried by the ruin of the building where they first met and fell in love.

She collapsed on the street, ignoring the people who had the decency to stop and attempt to help her up. But she didn't need help. Rachel pressed her head against the concrete, blocking everything out, listening to tremble of the earth from stampeding feet and thundering destruction. She felt the cold settle over her as the cloud of dust blocked the sun's rays and the suffocation as the heavy air full of debris surrounded her and began to choke her.

Hopelessly, Rachel opened her eyes one last time to see if Blaine was there.

But she saw nothing but smoke.


End file.
